Hamish the runaway hamster

CHEEKY Hamish the hamster swapped his cheese for popcorn when he went on an extended trip to the movies.

CHEEKY Hamish the hamster swapped his cheese for popcorn when he went on an extended trip to the movies.

The intrepid rodent was smuggled into the Showcase cinema at Winnersh Triangle by five-year-old Sarah Stocks.

The youngster, from Pangbourne, decided to hide Hamish in her bag and take him to a screening of Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Film fans were stunned to see the hamster roaming about the aisles of the cinema after adventurous Hamish gave Sarah the slip.

But frightened Sarah, whose sister Rachel owns Hamish, was too frightened to admit she had lost the rodent until three days later.

Holly Bedford, Sarah’s mother, explained: “Nobody knew Hamish was in the bag, or that he had escaped into the cinema.

“We all thought he’d escaped from his cage and was lost in the house, but a few days later Sarah admitted that she’d taken him out for an adventure.”

Luckily for the family, staff at the Showcase found Hamish after a cinema-goer reported an animal scurrying round one of the auditoriums.

Staff called the RSPCA and while waiting for an officer to arrive, they cornered Hamish, put him in a box and mused over how the animal had got lost in the cinema.

Igor Geyer, duty manager at the cinema, said: “I thought it was quite fun to find the hamster.

“I picked him up and put him in a box with plenty of paper to make him feel safe and comfortable.”

Sian Bowden, the RSPCA animal collection officer who picked up Hamish, said: “The hamster was spotted when the audience saw him running across the stage beneath the screen during the next film after Alvin and the Chipmunks.

“When I arrived staff had managed to catch him and he was taken to a foster home until the family could collect him.”

Mr Geyer added: “It was quite nice to have him as a pet for a short while, but I’m glad we were able to reunite the little girl with her hamster.”

Hamish is now safely back at home in Bourne Road, Pangbourne, and Sarah has promised not to take him on any more outings.